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By Tom Laskawy | Grist.org
This development in Illinois managed to pass somewhat under the radar, probably because it took place during the dog days of summer. But it's still a big deal—Illinois has a new law that starts building the infrastructure for a real regional food system:
The legislation establishes a council to develop a fresh farm and food system in the state, and it creates a system that allows buyers for state agencies to pay up to 10 percent above the lowest bid when purchasing locally grown foods. It also sets a goal for state-owned agencies to increase their purchase of locally grown foods each year so that 20 percent of their food purchase is spent on Illinois-grown foods by 2020. Currently, an estimated 4 percent of the money Illinois residents spend on food each year is for products grown in the state, and just several hundred of the state's 76,000 farmers are producing for the local market, according to a task force report.
That last statistic is astonishing. Illinois has tens of thousands of farmers and only one half of one percent of them sell their products in their home state. The new law is all the more impressive when you realize that Illinois is second only to Iowa in corn production—we're talking the heart of the Corn Belt here. It's quite a statement when a top agricultural commodity state has decided it's time to diversify its food production. And make no mistake, institutional buyers are exactly what growers need to have the confidence to give up their reliance on commodity crops, which they can always sell to the local grain elevator. Asking a farmer to grow something that he or she can't hope to sell isn't exactly a recipe for success. But what happens if they know the state will not only buy their produce, but pay a premium for it? I'm smelling a win-win here.
Indeed, the potential dollar figures are tremendous, even for just a single state. According to the Illinois Local Food, Farm, and Jobs Task Force, the state spends $48 billion on food—with almost all of that money flowing out of state. And make no mistake, much of the energy for this law comes from a growing understanding of the positive economics of local spending. Yes! Magazine has a nice graphic explaining what some refer to as the "Local Multiplier Effect" of your purchasing decisions. This concept is built around the estimate that, while 15 cents of your dollar spent at a corporate chain is reinvested in the community, 45 cents of your dollar is reinvested when you shop at an independent local business. So keeping more of your money in your community "multiplies" the effect of that spending. In an era when many question where future economic growth, not to mention jobs, will come from, allowing local spending to power a local industry like food production starts to make real economic sense.
Grist contributor and author Ken Meter—a strong advocate for the economic benefits of moving farmers off of commodity crops—has looked closely at the issue. He has spend the last few years studying net cash flows from regional food production and consumption, including in his calculations agricultural inputs costs like seed and fertilizer, farm income, farm subsidies and total food purchases. You can find all the details in his paper [PDF], but his basic conclusion back in 2001 was that if consumers in much of the Midwest "were to buy 15% of their food from local sources, it would generate as much income for the region as two-thirds of farm subsidies." The ethanol boom has changed the equation somewhat, but as commodity prices have fallen back to earth, the money flow out of the Midwest has again accelerated.
Also keep in mind that Illinois' law was passed weeks before the USDA announced its new Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, which reserves hundreds of millions of dollars in existing USDA grants, loans and loan guarantees for improving local food infrastructure. When you start to marry federal dollars with state regulations—and get the USDA presumably involved with spreading the word on programs such as Illinois', suddenly real change starts to look eminently feasible. And none of this, it's worth pointing out, required anyone to renegotiate agricultural subsidies or demand changes in farmers' production styles. The Illinois effort, like much of Michelle Obama's and USDA Chief Tom Vilsack's initiatives on food reform to date, is focused on the demand side of the food equation, allowing institutional buyers like government agencies and, yes, schools, to lead the way to healthier food choices. This will prove to be strategically brilliant and, I think, surprisingly effective. If all 50 states adopted policies like this, policies that are almost totally uncontroversial, we will have a come a long way towards effective food reform. So who's next?
Tom is a media and technology professional who thinks that wrecking the planet is a bad idea. He twitters madly and blogs here and at Beyond Green about food policy, alternative energy, climate science and politics as well as the multiple and various effects of living on a warming planet.


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Carol of Ol' Nick 3rd gen.
Description: Nick delighted in invention and spells, and people paid great sums for his work. As he grew old, he forgot the thrill of creation, and abandoned it, blinded by and indulging in his wealth. Until the night he is visited by the spirit of his deceased brother...
Price: This item has no specific price
Store: Not currently available
Gender: Any
Date first appeared on Gaia: 2008-11-30
Find listings for Carol of Ol' Nick 3rd gen. in the Virtual Item Marketplace

subset: commoncrawl


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New report confirms 'major surge' in ivory smuggling in 2011
Posted on 03 January 2013
Illegal trade in ivory is at its highest levels in nearly two decades, and 2011 witnessed a 'major surge', according to a report released by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Illegal trade in ivory is at its highest levels in nearly two decades, and 2011 witnessed a 'major surge', according to a report released by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The findings, largely based on ivory seizure information submitted by governments, will be presented and discussed at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP16) to be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 3 to 14 March 2013.
The report analyses data from the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) managed by TRAFFIC on behalf of the CITES member States. ETIS is the world's largest database of elephant product seizure records, with more than 18,300 cases, representing law enforcement actions in 89 countries and territories since 1989.
Analysis of ETIS confirms 2011 as the worst year on record for ivory seizures, with the period 2009-2011 including three of the top four years in which the largest quantities of ivory were seized worldwide.
In 2011 alone, there were 17 large-scale ivory seizures—more than double the highest previous figure of eight, in 2009, and totalling an estimated 26.4 tonnes of ivory. Complete figures are not yet available for 2012.
The report indicates that, following a period of relative stability from 1998 onwards, the global illegal trade in ivory began increasing from 2008 onwards, surging sharply in each successive year and reaching record levels in 2011.
"The remarkable surge in recent years reflects the increasing involvement of organized crime syndicates in the illegal ivory trade," said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC's ivory trade expert, manager of ETIS and lead author of the report to CITES.
"Right now, criminals are lining their pockets while Africa's elephants are paying the ultimate price."
Large-scale ivory seizures, those involving at least 800 kg of ivory in a single transaction, typically indicate the participation of organized crime. The ETIS data suggest that these crime syndicates have become stronger within Africa and more active over the last decade.
Commenting on the critical situation currently facing the African's elephants, the CITES Secretary-General, Mr John E. Scanlon, said: "We need to enhance our collective efforts across range, transit and consumer States to reverse the current disturbing trends in elephant poaching and ivory smuggling. While being essential, enforcement efforts to stop wildlife crime must not just result in seizures – they must result in prosecutions, convictions and strong penalties to stop the flow of contraband. The whole 'enforcement chain' must work together."
According to the report: "Thailand and China are the most important end-use markets driving illegal ivory trade," with the ETIS analysis indicating that illegal trade volumes destined for China are three times greater than those heading to Thailand. Most raw ivory consignments are heading to these two destinations and nationals of both countries are heavily involved in the procurement of ivory throughout the African continent.
Trade patterns have shifted to Indian Ocean seaports. With unprecedented frequency, large-scale ivory shipments have either been seized in Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania or exited Africa through ports in those countries, which have rapidly emerged as the two most prominent countries connecting African ivory with Asian demand. South Africa is also a country of concern for large flows of ivory, according to the ETIS report.
Ivory traffickers appear to be targeting Malaysia, along with the Philippines, Hong Kong SAR and Viet Nam, as key transit points along the smuggling chain. The sheer quantity of cargo moving through their major seaports makes detection of concealed ivory a severe enforcement challenge, while the identity of containers originating in Africa can be changed so that their onward shipment within Asia is less likely to attract attention, says the report.
A CITES report earlier this year revealed that tens of thousands of African elephants are being poached annually for their ivory.
The critical situation demonstrates the urgent need to implement and monitor the African Elephant Action Plan, created by all African elephant range states under the auspices of CITES in 2010.
TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN.


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KIXEYE CM Swag wrote: »You can currently deploy a fleet outside of your base to defend it. While this can be helpful in defending your base, we feel that players should also have the ability to have a fleet to defend inside of the base as well.
We will be implementing a feature that allows players to deploy a single fleet within their base that will attack invading fleets. Players will be able to set an attack radius of the fleet to customize how far away a fleet will travel to engage enemy ships. This gives players the ability to prevent the patrolling fleet from being kited (lured) away from the base.
If a player is present when their base is being attacked by an enemy fleet, the player will be free to control the patrolling ships how they see fit.
I love the idea. I think it would make a prep fleet much more important, and the game as a whole much more realistic. I do believe though that the defending fleet must not add to the hit points of the base. In other words, destroying a base fleet should not bubble a base, nor even take it to 1% damaged.
omg really kixeye...wtf is that...bases are already hard enough to crack...and your gonna let us put a fleet in on top of it...wow i can see it now everyone will put seawolfs with thuds and HB3s then put in a bunch of victorys and howies and bam noone gets in with anything...that has got to be the worst idea yet...c'mon think this thru b4 u put this in here....i can garantee you ppl will quit playing this game....and i mean alot.....so i am asking you to plz reconsider.....thanx
I don't like this idea much. The people my level are hard enough to get into, this will make it not worth the effort. I guess I'll have to go back to hitting bases that have no chance of keeping me out.
I don't like this idea much. The people my level are hard enough to get into, this will make it not worth the effort. I guess I'll have to go back to hitting bases that have no chance of keeping me out.
Yes, and with no bubble any more they can take 15 hits to do it.And how is this really any different than putting a fleet outside? Base hitters will just send in a prep fleet to clear the fleet inside then retreat, just like they do now with clearing outside defenders. Even if you put them in the center of the base, they can easily be kited from the outside.
about time, but instead of just being online, make it where we can have it off line too. have it where we can position the ships around inside the base to help hit those that are kiting our WHs and resources.
Not if your base fleet is less than 25% of your base damage points. That is if they even count towards damage. Though I am guessing they will because of how the drac outposts were.Scott Tuxworth wrote: »there will be a bubble the length of time is counted as to how much damage is done!
Travis Johnson wrote: »Will damage to the patrolling fleet be included in base damage %.... damage towards a bubble?
Put it this way to make it clear!
This will not make things more even, it will make the balance of power greater! Why?
The stronger players bases will be even harder to hit for lower level players or even same level players, and the stronger players will drop down a level or 2 to make sure they hit a base they can take. So for example you 'll see even less lvl 30's hitting each other, almost no lvl 28's hitting a lvl 30, and more of a lvl 30 hitting lvl 25 and 26's.
How is that better?


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Drugs, Alcohol and Weapons on Campus
The University enforces all state laws regarding the possession, use, and sale of
alcoholic beverages, including those prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverage
to persons under the age of 21.
The University's Alcohol Policy is available for review in Human Resources, SWOSU
Drug Free Workplace, Faculty Handbook, and the Student Handbook.
The SWOSU Campus Police enforces all state and federal laws concerning illegal drugs.
Anyone apprehended by the SWOSU Campus Police in possession of, using, or selling
drugs will be apprehended. Students may additionally be charged under any existing
University student disciplinary code.
In accordance with state law, no one other than a commissioned law enforcement officer
may carry firearms on campus.


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Imagine being able to change from a 3D world to a 2D world at the touch of a button. Reinvented for the Nintendo 3DS, CRUSH 3D is the unique platform game that gives you the ability to change perspective from 2D to 3D as you try to solve brain-teasing puzzles
CRUSH 3D tells the story of Danny, an inquisitive character who volunteers to test his friend's amazing C.R.U.S.H. machine.
This weird invention gives him amazing powers to explore his own dreams and fears, however, the machine soon becomes so attached to Danny, it traps him in his own subconscious. Now Danny needs your skills to help him escape
Packed with the best gameplay from the original CRUSH game plus a whole host of exciting new 3D features, CRUSH 3D takes platform gaming to a level that?s as hard to put down, as it is to escape from


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Pembroke Pines Water Softener Installation
A water softener is a device that removes minerals from hard water. It is the water that comes out of your faucets or hoses coming from the water main. Hard water, without being filtered, usually causes problems among homeowners in Pembroke Pines. Over time, it destroys appliances and leaves a layer of soap spread across the bathroom, or on your kitchen sink. Moreover, the continuous use of hard water puts your health at risk in the long run.
With this situation, the use of a water softener is a major solution. It can save you time, money, and effort. It prevents hours of cleaning soap residue, health risk, recurrent heating of water, etc. It even prolongs the lifespan of your appliances and keeps your skin and hair healthy and moisturized. Read on to find out how it works!
Call Payless Plumbing at (754) 226-1588 to get a Free Quote!
How a Water Softener Works
Hard water allows scales to build up in your pipes, therefore clogging them, messing up appliances, and reducing the water pressure. Ion exchange is the process of removing calcium and magnesium minerals that cause hardness to your water. This process uses a water softener or the so-called whole-house filtration system.
As the hard water enters into the container or tank, it passes through a seam of spherical resin beads. These are plastic beads that are made from polystyrene that have a negative charge due to the resins being anions. They are charged with a sodium ion. On the other hand, calcium and magnesium are cations, because they have a positive charge.
As the opposite charges attract, the minerals' positive charge gets attracted to the resin beads' negative charge, trapping it. In other words, resin beads are able to remove the minerals of hard water as it passes through the layer. Following the seizing of the mineral ions, the sodium ion is then released. Soft water then gushes out into your home after the filtering process takes place inside the mineral tank of the water softener. And yes, soft water is also safe to drink.
Steps on How to Install a Water Softener
Ideally, it is always recommended to call for the help of professional plumbers for the installation of a water softener. The difficulty level of installation depends on some factors: type of water softener system, preferred location, type of pipes, etc. To avoid wasting your money and committing mistakes in installing the device, you could use the service of Payless Plumbing not only for installation but also for a repair job within Pembroke Pines, FL. Here are the steps on how to install a water softener in your home:
1. Turn off the water supply in your home from the meter.
Before anything else, be sure to turn off the water supply from the mainline, the water heater's supply, as well as the electricity. This is to ensure safety and prevent leaks from dripping during the whole installation process.
2. Position the water softener correctly.
The correct position of the water softener must be observed. The entire thing won't work if not appropriately placed. Connect the inlet to the water supply. The outlet should be set opposite to and facing the hot water appliances.
3. Make sure your pipes have clear pathways.
Turning off the water supply as stated in the first step, do not clear the pipes from water, so drain them. Make sure no water remains within the pipes. To do this, open your faucets to ensure that water has been withdrawn completely.
4. Prepare to connect pipes directly to the water main.
Since the installation of the water softener involves whole house filtration, you need to connect both the inlet and outlet lines to the main water line. Do this by cutting into the water main that leads to the supply line. Use pipe cutters for cutting after measuring the length of pipes that accurately fit. After that, attach the pipes to the water softener.
5. Fasten the drain hose and connect the overflow tube.
After the regeneration cycle, the brine solution must be flushed. Fix the hose into the drain in which you intend to eliminate the high-concentration solution. To avoid the siphoning of wastewater through the hose, make sure to maintain an air gap within it. You can use overflow tubes to make sure that the brink tank does not overspill.
Reach Out to Payless Plumbing For Water Softener Installation
Payless Plumbing delivers high-quality installation and repair services through our licensed and dedicated plumbers in Pembroke Pines. They can accommodate from small jobs to the emergency plumbing issues with excellent support and professional work right on time. To increase your home efficiency and reduce energy use, hire Payless Plumbing plumbers who will look over your plumbing system at home and work their way to making these things possible. Call (754) 226-1588 for more inquiries.
Call Payless Plumbing at (754) 226-1588 to get a Free Quote!


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Designed to provide wireless communication from a loading dock or receiving door, Ritron Inc.'s DoorCom™ wireless intercom can improve efficiency and security. According to the company, this system:
- Installs easily at any entry point to permit visitors to announce their arrival.
- Offers long-range performance that allows radio-equipped personnel to receive a call from practically anywhere in the building and instantly answer back using a portable two-way radio or desk-top base station.
- Is ideal for installation at delivery/receiving door, employee entrance, entrance or lobby, will-call/pick-up, loading dock, factory floor and more.
- Helps to increase efficiency and maintain security by allowing exterior doors to remain locked.
- Is two-part system that features a rugged, all-metal speaker intercom box which is mounted on the outside of the facility, and an R-series transceiver mounted inside the facility, safe from the weather and vandals.
- Features a radio transceiver that provides optimal radio signal coverage to radio-equipped personnel and a range of approximately 350,000 square feet.
- Is compatible with any other business band two-way radio operating on the same frequency.


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I have been using amarok for a couple of days now seems ok
Wondered if there anything similar to it (with less bloat) ?
Mr Green
wxMusik: http://musik.berlios.de/
I like mpd w/ ncmpc as the front end, grok is also a good front end but I highly recomend mpd
-The more engineering courses I take, the more I lose my heart for engineering. I just want to F*@%ing build stuff!
mpd and gmpc and mpc and ncmpc
Quodlibet might fit the bill:
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … =quodlibet
Currently version 0.11
mpd does not look that easy to get going ... grabbed glurp ... just as well use Xmms :?
Mr Green
Try moreamp, I've submitted a PKGBUILD in AUR.
shameless self promotion: http://www.fifthplanet.net/gmm.html
I don't have anything against BMP, but I don't think it's anywhere near being a replacement for something like amaroK.
gmpc unstable is coming along nicely.
Download and compile from:
svn co https://svn.musicpd.org/gmpc/trunk gmpc
I really like Rhythmbox. You can set gstreamer 's output to alsasink (ALSA output) using GNOME's control center or gconf-editor.
On VIA audio, you can't use alsasink.
Also, Rhythmbox can freeze up if you try to fast-forward more than a minute or so.
On VIA audio, you can't use alsasink.
Also, Rhythmbox can freeze up if you try to fast-forward more than a minute or so.
I'm using a VIA audio solution and it seems to work fine with alsasink. It didn't until the 1.0.9 release of the alsa packages.
Oh? Well, too late then...
I am liking mpd very much .... glurp does what I want
Mr Green
Glurp segfaults on me, ncmpc is fine though.
Currently looking at Madman. Looks good if music management is what you're after. Very nice.
Package is in AUR or see here (note pkgver is now 0.93):
Madman looks ok ... think its more for XMMS... but looking into that ;-)
Mr Green
On VIA audio, you can't use alsasink.
It's been working just fine since 1.0.2/1.0.3 with my onboard VIA chip (using the snd-via82xx ALSA driver with a Gravis joystick).
Just reinstalled GStreamer and tried alsasink. No such luck... It still won't work with it.
MPD fits my needs very well. I have a MythTV box in my TV stand that holds all my music and is connected to my stereo. By having a central, dedicated music server I don't have to worry about my desktop being on. I can be in windows editting a video and controlling my music from my old dell laptop. That laptop can't handle gtk GUIs very well so ncmpc works great. My friends can even easily figure it out and play songs they want. I can wake up, pull out my laptop from under my bed, and listen to music. I can't even imagine a solution as integrated as this for windows.
The only thing that keeps me going back to amarok is a few features you wouldn't expect and some you would in a client/server program like MPD.
-the awesome sidebar
-integrated cd burning (sends to K3b)
-playlist sorting
Many of these are planned for the MPD .12 release but that isn't out yet. When I setup MPD is was really easy and I found myself using and liking it much more than I thought.
xmms. you can't beat it. many have tried, all have failed.
Just reinstalled GStreamer and tried alsasink. No such luck... It still won't work with it.
Have you installed the ALSA gstreamer plugin?
Uhh, where the heck do I get that? It's not in the Arch repos...
Yep, madman is the bees knees ("just sucks less than the alternatives" unquote madman website).
As well as its own interface, a web browser can also be used to search, play (locally) and stream (remotely). And its fast.
There's a devel version available but currently you have to jump through lots of hoops to install it, although it is possible.
(Make sure you follow the instructions for the devel vers. and don't try and use CVS or you'll waste alot of time. Madman now uses a different system, tla, even though the CVS links are still live).


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(PHP 4 >= 4.0.7, PHP 5 < 5.3.0, PECL ncurses >= 1.0.0)
ncurses_init — Initialize ncurses
Initializes the ncurses interface. This function must be used before any other ncurses function call.
Note that ncurses_end() must be called before exiting from the program, or the terminal will not be restored to its proper non-visual mode.
This function has no parameters.
No value is returned.


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Tides of Yesterday - Carolyn Leonhart with Wayne Escoffery (Savant) - This is the second full recording by the married couple (they tied the "knot" in 2006), featuring a similar lineup to 2008's "If Dreams Come True" (Nagel-Heyer), with Donald Edwards on drums (instead of Jason Brown or Carl Allen.) Ms. Leonhart has a fine, flexible, voice, she inhabits lyrics fully and there's a soulful edge to her readings. Highlights include the double-edged take on Richard Rodgers' "The Sweetest Sound", a track that starts with a long, slow, voice and guitar (Adam Rogers) intro before heading into hard-bop with strong solos from Rogers and Escoffery (on tenor.) "Never Never Land" is a truly pretty tune with a sweet vocal and atmospheric tenor sax. "The Harbor (Poppy's Song)" is an original tune (music by Joe Martin, lyrics by Leonhart) and has a Latin feel, sparkling piano from Todu Dodo and "popping" percussion from Edwards and guest Jeff Haynes. Escoffery moves to soprano sax and Rogers to acoustic guitar for sweet take of Charles Mingus's "Eclipse." Tenor and voice open the fiery version of Lee Morgan's "Infinity" that closes the disk. The duo stay together on the melody line before moving aside for Dodo's driving solo. They dig deep into "Big Noise, New York", written by Donald Fagen (from Steely Dan, the group that Ms. Leonhart sings background vocals on the band's post-Millennium releases and on tour.) It' a smoky, bluesy, ballad with great drumming from Edwards, a funky electric piano solo and fiery tenor sax but it's Ms. Leonhart's soulful vocal that enlivens the tune. She and Dodo create a contemplative setting for their duet on "You Must Believe in Spring", a rendition without a wasted note.
There's not a weak track on this fine recording and it's the sort of program you can put on repeat. Escoffery plays with great fire and also shows quite a melodic side. The rhythm section is tight and responsive. Ms. Leonhart is part of the band, she's an articulate vocalist (no lyrics lost to "showboating") with good musical instincts. For more information, go to www.carolynleonhart.com or www.escofferymusic.com.
Initiation - Erica Lindsay and Sumi Tonooka (ARC) - This fine collection of original tunes (5 each by Ms. Lindsay and Ms. Tonooka) continues to grow on me. The music is fairly "straight-ahead" but not "neo-con", with blues influences in both composers' works - best part is that it's not just a "blowing" session. The songs have complete melodies, the solos grow logically out of the thematic material, and everyone plays well. Ms. Lindsay, who works with Bakaida Carroll, the Oliver Big Band and is on the faculty of Bard College, is a gutsy tenor saxophonist and her compositions show an affinity for the music of John Coltrane. Ms. Tonooka, a native of Philadelphia, has worked with Kenny Burrell, Little Jimmy Scott, Red Rodney, Benny Golson, and David "Fathead" Newman while maintaining a busy solo career for the past 2 decades. Her longtime collaborator Rufus Reid (bass) and the late Bob Braye (drums, who passed in 2007, 3 years after this session was recorded) make up the solid rhythm section.
Among the highlights is Ms. Tonooka's elegant ballad "Mingus Mood." Lindsay does a smoldering yet controlled reading of the theme before Reid's long and melodic bass solo. The composer's solo is emotional, heartfelt and grows in power yet never gets lost in technique. Starting off in a "Moondance" groove, "South Street" is another evocative blues that builds upon Braye's active drum work and Reid's booming bass lines. Ms. Lindsay's "Serpent's Tale"opens with an out-of-time tenor/bass dialogue that lasts several minutes before the piano and drums enter. The tenor solo stays mostly in the middle-range, not fiery yet both muscular and poetic.Ms. Tonooka's touch is gentle and assertive throughout; she never tries to "force the action" and her ballad work is so melodic ("The Gift" is a sweet present, a track on which all the parts fit so well, one could not ask for better.) Ms. Lindsay's "Yes" ends the program on a high note, literally bursting out of its seams from the opening moment (Braye and Reid are stalwarts, really propelling the soloists forward.)
"Initiation" is 70+ minutes of mature creative music that is quite joyful and rewarding. Recorded nearly 6 years ago, the music is fresh and impressively devoid of cliche. To find out more, go to www.ericalindsay.com or www.sumitonooka.com.


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Being bilingual provides a variety of perks. Aside from giving you the ability to impress your latest love interest by reciting foreign poetry, being bilingual also pays dividends – monetarily, cognitively, and culturally. See the graphic below to find out why.
Note to teachers, edubloggers and all those interested: Want to use this infographic in your class or share it on your blog? No problem! You'll find a cool collection of classroom activities and sharing options below.
(click to enlarge image)
Use This Infographic In Your Class
We think that infographics are an awesome learning and teaching tool, so our creations will always be available for you to print out, use with your students and/or embed on your blog!
Warm-Up Activity
Before handing out the infographic, discuss the following question with your students: What are the advantages of being bilingual?
Speaking & Critical Thinking Practice
Questions to ask your students after presenting the infographic:
- What is the most surprising fact that you discovered from this infographic?
- Is the information in this infographic applicable in your own country or society? Give examples.
- Since beginning your English studies, what perspective have you gained on the advantages of being bilingual? Do you agree with the statement that there are cognitive, monetary and cultural benefits to being bilingual? Why or why not?
- Today, many people would say that English is the most important language in the world; if English is not your first language, then you should become bilingual in your L1 and English. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
- If you agree with the statement in #4, do you think that another language will ever become more important than English?
Writing Challenge
After reviewing this infographic with your students, have them write an essay or blog post based on the facts from the infographic as well as their own findings. Encourage them to do their own research using the sources listed at the bottom of the infographic.
Article from http://voxy.com/blog/index.php/2011/02/why-it-pays-to-be-bilingual-infog...


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WASHINGTON — The Obama administration picked what some undoubtedly found a curious time and place to complain about the perception of the president's foreign policy as lacking virility.
The view at Colleville-sur-Mer is uniquely stunning and symbolic, representing the brave and ultimate sacrifices of the soldiers who saved civilization.
Rows upon rows of simple white crosses, and the occasional Star of David, sit against nothing but the emerald lawn and azure sky of Normandy, France.
Just below is Omaha Beach, where the allies landed on D-Day, June 6, 1944, spearheading the liberation of Europe from the Nazis.
TRENDING: 'Betrayed democracy': Liberals melt down as Supremes keep Trump on ballot
This is also the setting where, as world leaders gathered Friday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of that bold, daring and crucial invasion, National Security Adviser Susan Rice chose to complain about the growing sentiment that President Obama's foreign policy is weak and failed.
"I don't think the criticism has been fair," she told CNN, adding, "our leadership is unmatched."
That might be news to former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, who resigned in March and explained that last week by telling CNN, "I was no longer in a position where I felt I could defend the American policy."
"We have been unable to address either the root causes of the conflict in terms of the fighting on the ground and the balance on the ground, and we have a growing extremism threat," he added.
But Rice specifically cited the president's Syria policy as an example of robust leadership, along with his intention, announced recently in his speech at West Point, to increase aid to the some of the opposition in the country's civil war.
That, however, leads to another problem: While many worry whether Obama's Syria policy is weak, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is concerned about whether it is wise.
The senator told WND he questions the wisdom of sending of arms to Syria, as the administration plans, because of the risk those weapons will end up in the hands of hardcore terrorists.
Lee is so concerned, he was the only member of the Senate Armed Services committee to vote against approving the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, and that panel includes such strong conservatives as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
"This is a big deal to me," Lee told WND, saying he's particularly worried because U.S. Central Commander General Lloyd Austin could not assure him that the assistance America provides will not fall into the wrong hands.
Austin testified that some weapons undoubtedly will wind up in the hands of extremist groups such as al-Nusra, which is affiliated with al-Qaida, and ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), which is so radical, even al-Qaida severed relations with them.
The senator has even more reason to be concerned about Western weapons falling into the wrong hands -- it has already happened.
In December, WND security expert and former Pentagon analyst F. Michael Maloof detailed how nearly all of the weapons supplied by the West to its ally, the Free Syrian Army, were captured by the Islamic Front, a group that subscribes to the strict Islamic law of sharia.
On Friday, Rice admitted the U.S has been supplying arms to rebels, and without addressing where those weapons have ended up, cited it as an example of how the administration "has ramped up its support for the moderate vetted opposition, providing lethal and nonlethal support where we can to support both the civilian opposition and the military opposition."
Some administration critics have cited problems with identifying actual moderates in Syria.
Former ambassador Ford claimed, "We've identified them quite well now. Some people say, well, we don't know them well enough; we can't depend on them. We know them quite well. We've worked with them for years."
Lee said he is sure there are some moderates, as well as "lots of others that are not anything close to what we would call moderates."
But the real problem with vetting, Lee said, is the composition of those groups is changing constantly. "Those we might identify as moderates one day might not be the next day."
So, who are the moderates the administration has identified in Syria?
President Obama met with the head of the opposition National Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, in Washington last month, so that group seems a likely candidate to receive the weapons Obama is planning to send.
However, the National Coalition backs the Free Syria Army, and they are the ones who had their weapons captured in December.
The weapons were seized by the Islamic Front, which, Maloof reported in WND, is a "coalition of some seven so-called 'moderate' Islamic militant groups opposing the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."
However, the definition of moderate is one Westerners might find a stretch.
Maloof noted, "the Islamic Front's published charter states that its aim is to establish an Islamic state in Syria with the implementation of Islamic law, or sharia" which calls for the subjugation of women and death to those who insult Islam or the prophet Muhammad.
These "moderate" Islamic militant groups, Maloof reported, "also are also firmly against secularism or any human legislation, believing that laws come only from Allah. It would make any non-Muslims in Syria, particularly Christians and other minorities, second-class citizens."
The boundaries between even those so-called moderate groups and the hardcore Islamists such as al-Nusra and ISIL becomes even murkier, because they all collaborate.
Lee said Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described these groups to be "in an agreement of convenience. The groups are quite fluid. They may disagree ideologically, but when it's convenient for them, in a tactical context, they will agree to work together."
Since the moderates will work with the fanatics, WND asked Lee, what's the difference?
"Yeah. I don't want to sound like there's no way of ever knowing whether some people, or some groups within the opposition, are moderates, but there is enough fluidity out there to cause a real risk here," the senator soberly reflected.
Maloof confirmed that fluidity when he reported, "Islamic Front members such as Ahrar al-Sham are difficult to distinguish from the al-Qaida-affiliated groups. Ahrar al-Sham, for example, recently conducted a joint raid with Nusra Front and ISIL against Hezbollah and pro-Assad militias."
And Lee said that fluidity tells him, "You can't just say 'We're going to vet the really well' because even vetting them won't necessarily assure that a group that you get today won't tomorrow be affiliated with an effort that is hostile to the United States."
Doesn't that makes it nearly impossible to identify how strong the moderate force is, in reality?
"Yes, and it also makes it impossible for us to assure ourselves that aid that we provide won't end up, one way or another, in the hands of those who have every intention of harming us. That worries me a lot."
The lawmaker told WND that the uncertainty in sending arms to rebels in Syria has to be taken into account very seriously and ought to be debated separately from the rest of the NDAA, and be the subject of it's own debate in Congress.
Lee looked back at last summer when there was a heated debate over whether to bomb Syria for alleged chemical weapons attacks, "and there was a resounding and negative response from the American people, who made clear they were overwhelmingly against it."
It doesn't mean the idea of arming Syrian rebels would be rejected, he acknowledged, but he said it is certainly something we should discuss and debate.
In closing, WND asked the senator if he thought Obama actually might not mind arming jihadists, thinking they can be dealt with, as he thought about the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt?
"Well, perhaps. If he is inclined to go in this direction, if this is what he wants to do, that would suggest that he thinks he can manage it. It suggests that he thinks, perhaps, that we can affect those to whom we are providing assistance, and that will take care of it. But, again, the facts don't bear that out."
Follow Garth Kant on Twitter @DCgarth


text:
2011 Best of Philly Online
The entire list of Philadelphia magazine's 2011 Best of Philly is now available online.
Check out all the food and drink winners from who is the Best Chef to where to find the Best Fried Chicken near a Porn Store:
Free this year is the Best of Philly iPhone App. Browse the past five years of winners or find the nearest winners to you.
Best of Philly [Philadelphia]
Worst of Philly [Philadelphia]
Best of Philly for iPhone [iTunes]


text: SSE is a leading generator of renewable electricity in the UK and Ireland and one of the largest electricity network companies in the UK. We develop, own and operate low carbon infrastructure to support the zero-carbon transition. This includes onshore and offshore wind, hydro power, electricity transmission and distribution grids, efficient gas, alongside providing energy products and services for businesses. SSE are UK-listed in the FTSE100 and contribute around £9bn to the economy.


text:
Messalianism is a heresy that originated in Mesopotamia about the year 360. The Messalians denied that the Sacraments gave grace, including baptism, and declared that the only spiritual power was constant prayer that led to possession by the Holy Spirit.
This heresy affected monasticism. Messalians were ascetics who practiced poverty, celibacy, and fasting. They rejected the sacramental life of the church and pretended to see God with their physical eyes. Their teachings spread into Syria and Asia Minor before the sect was finally anathematized by the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431. Under the influence of the Messalians, the non-sleepers or Vigilant (Akoimetoi) type of monasticism developed in the area of Constantinople and was practiced even within the Studion Monastery, the monastery that became renowned for its polemic against the Iconoclasts.
Under Messalianism, intense meditation was supposed to achieve union with God and encourage the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, through which sinful inclinations would be purged and demons would be expelled. Such exaggerated claims included the ability to see demons and even the Holy Trinity. This clearly heterodox belief system, in many respects, had come more from Eastern mysticism than from the historic Christian faith. The obviously non-Christian content of the Messalianism made its condemnation at Ephesus uncontroversial. Due to their denial of the sacraments, the Messalians were almost entirely a lay movement. Thus, the clergy were universal in their denunciation of the heresy, a heresy that was punished with the usual canonical penalties.
- Commentary on the Council of Ephesus Definition against the Messalians
- Monasticism in the Orthodox Church


text:
Mark Gongloff: Libor Fraud Was Happening In 1991, Trader Says, 17 Years Before Timothy Geithner Claims He Knew:
Well then, that puts a different spin on things.
"...the earliest time-stamp on Libor manipulation we've seen yet -- is a Financial Times op-ed by former Morgan Stanley trader Douglas Keenan. He claims that Libor, a key short-term bank lending rate that affects mortgages and other interest rates throughout the economy, was being jerked around for fun and profit as long ago as 1991."
Well then, that puts a different spin on things.


text:
Watch Face/Off Online
Sean Archer, a very tough, rugged FBI Agent, is still grieving for his dead son Michael. Archer believes that his son's killer is his sworn enemy and a very powerful criminal, Castor Troy. One day, Archer has finally cornered Castor, however, their fight has knocked out Troy cold. As Archer finally breathes easy over the capture of his enemy, he finds out that Troy has planted a bomb that will destroy the entire city of Los Angeles and all of its inhabitants. Unfortunately the only other person who knows its location is Castor's brother Pollux, and he refuses to talk. The solution, a special operation doctor that can cut off people's faces, and can place a person's face onto another person. Archer undergoes one of those surgeries to talk to Pollux. However, Castor Troy somehow regains consciousness and now wants revenge on Archer for taking his face. Not only is Troy ruining Archer's mission, but his personal life as well. Archer must stop Troy again. This time, it's personal.
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text:
by Clara Grosser
Translated from Polish by M. Zilberg
Translated by Sara Mages
In one of the wings in the Rabbi's court in Stary-Chortkov (old
Chortkov) there was a Jewish orphanage that was supported by
money donated from the Joint. In the institution there were
around 60 children, most of them orphans from World War I.
Thank to the wonderful care, the children were well behaved and educated. Almost all the children finished Elementary School. The more talented among them, were sent to High School and some of them studied different trades like: plumbing, carpentry, tailoring and many more. The children stayed in school until they reached the age of 15. Those who did not have a family, stayed in the institution and took care of the small children. They cooked, did the laundry and house keeping.
The director of the house was Mrs. Shader, the wife of Mr. Shader, who was a High School teacher. He also helped by giving lectures and helping the children with their studies and homework. Also their oldest daughter, Nosia, took care of the children. She organized a drama club, took them on trips and taught them craft. During the summer, she took the children every morning to swim in the river Seret.
On Friday nights, the institute Board of Directors came to visit. All the children were dressed in their Sabbath best, waiting by the tables that were set for Sabbath's dinner. Mr. Shader organized the prayers and after the meal the children recited poetry and sang songs.
The Board of Directors of the orphanage included: Dr. Shimon Vichart and his wife, Dr. Kimelman and Mr. Taft.
The medical and sanitary team included: Dr. Akslrod, Dr. Feldman
and Dr. Blaustein.
by Monish Blum
Translated by Sara Mages
In March of 1927 the Charity Fund started its activity in Chortkov to the
satisfaction of all the citizens of the city. Around 60% of the Jewish citizens
in Chortkov, from different social classes, enjoyed the help of the Charity
Fund. The fund gave a helping hand to every person who was in need, and
also helped with advice and action. We will take away the value of the fund
and the hard work of it's directors, if we did not list the accomplishment of
the Charity Fund, and the blessed work of those who gave their time and put
a lot efforts for its successes. First we have to list those who were taken from
us; Mr. Haresh Axelrod, may he rests in peace, who organized the Charity
Fund and have done everything in his power to make it a successes. He
always took care of the most difficult cases. Rabbi H. Axelrod was loyal to
the institution and worked for it until his last days. After him, the honorable
community leader, Rabbi Israel Yoseph Rosenzvieg worked with a lot of energy
and dedication, the "scholar", his guiding lights were the teachings of the
Zaddik, Rabbi Shimon, may he rests in peace, who said: "The world is
sustained by three things; the Torah, worship and charity". He invested all his
strength and energy in his work for the Charity Fund and helped the needed.
Also K. Vilkovitz, a successful merchant, understood the needs for the Fund
and worked hard for it. Of all the active members of the Fund, we must give
special thanks to its directors; Dr. David Margalit and Mr. Meir Marbach,
who from the first day, protected the needs of the poor citizens and worked
for the good of the Fund. Ms. Meger. Hana Rozencwajg, who was the Fund's
secretary and joined the fund after her father, she followed his foot steps and
was loyal to her work. Hersh Visman was the Fund's accountant. The last
ones to be thanked are; the directors of the community and especially the
community leader and honorable community president, Shaul Rozencveig.
[Page 160]
by Tzvi Cohen
Translated by Sara Mages
In our town there were three cemeteries. One ancient, one from the times of
World War I and a new one. The new cemetery served the Jewish community from
the beginning of the 1920s until the destruction of the community by the Nazis.
The last to be buried there were the victims of the "Actions" during the
The new cemetery was located on a large area on a steep hill on the left side of the river, Seret, next to the road leading to Kupitzniza. From the thousands of gravestones, only a few rows, that the Nazis did not have the time to destroy survived.
The older cemetery from the times of World War I was on the way to the town of Yaglenitza. In this cemetery were buried thousands of victims from an epidemic during the war. Among them many refugees that were expelled from the towns around Chortkov. Also this cemetery was almost completely destroyed and only a few gravestones are still standing next to the fence of the Christian cemetery. Due to its location next to the prison the cemetery was the site of mass executions by the Nazis. Many mass graves were dug there. Next to the stones that survived it is possible to see today a large pit that was used as a mass grave to hundreds of martyrs. Among them, doctors like Andrman, Albin, Feldman and many more. The pit was opened and the bodies were dug out by the "Committee investigating Nazis War Crimes". The rain, that fell into the pit, washed out a skull from one of the destroyed graves and it was left there in full sight of the visitors to this horrible place.
The oldest is the first cemetery that served the Jewish community for hundreds of years. From the first days of its establishment to the end of the first world war. Buried there were victims of the pogroms of Chmielnicki, generations of Chortkov's Jews, Rabbis and community leaders.
There is no confirmed information as to when this cemetery was established. In the Letter of Rights that was given to the Jews by the Graf Potzkie in the year 1722, we read on line number 11 the sentence; "The Jewish synagogue and also their cemetery that exist today must be kept intact".
Rabbi Dr. Zonenszajn wrote of the antiquity of the cemetery in detail in his book, of which a short version is included in the Yizkor Book. But I would like to turn your attention to some of the most interesting and historical gravestones. One of them, according to tradition, is from the year 1648. Carved in the stone is a gate with two raised columns. It is decorated with grape leaves and clusters of grapes. Above the columns we find carvings of animals, which appear to be deer (perhaps alluding to the name Tzvi, deer in Hebrew, written on the stone).(Click here to see picture p.161)
A double gravestone of a husband and wife from the years 1719 and 1721 serves as proof that Jews lived in Chortkov long before 1722. (See the article written by Rabbi Dr. Zonenszajn).
Many have written about the gravestones special artistic values. Among them authors and teachers like Rabbi Dr. Zonenshien, the author Litvin, and before him the author Karl Emil Franzos. I am quoting from the book "Jewish Souls" that the author Litvin wrote before the juballee year0 after his visit to the ancient cemetery in Chortkov; "The ancient gravestones in Chortkov's cemetery are a magnificent example of the art of carving.Carving of this quality can't be found anywhere else in the world"
In the period after receiving the rights from the Graf Potozki, gravestone carving in our town Chortkov reached the highest and most improved form of art. Pictures of the gravestones taken 30 years ago by the members of the organization "Y. L. Pertz" prove to us how this art form improved during the years. Starting from the carving of the letters inside the stone with primitive decorations to the artistic carving of later years that show the highest and most beautiful art of carvings. Because of financial difficulties the committee was only able to take very few picture of the gravestones. Some pictures are published in the Yizkor Book. We decided to show only the gravestones with the best artistic values that attract the eye.
The stones carvers in Chortkov paid a lot of attention to the shape and design of the gravestones. The stones were not build just as a simple square with letters engraved on it but were shaped like an arched gate. The crown of the stone is supported by two columns raised half way above the surface of the stone. The crown was carved flat with surface of the stone and did not protect the letters and the carving from the wind and the rain. Even though, many stones survived in good condition. Here are two outstanding examples of gravestone crowns; the oldest one is in a shape of a triangle and the other one is in a shape of a decorated arch. A gravestone from the year 1744 is decorated in the middle with a candelabra that has seven branches and a beautifully carved Star of David crowns the stone. The second one is in a shape of a medallion.
The decorations were in large varieties: grape leaves, from lulav to lotus, many varieties of flowers and buds. Some shaped realistically and some drawn almost in modern way. We also find decorations of animals. Different varieties of birds, eagles, deer, lions and many more The decorations were influenced not only by Jewish tradition but also influenced by the Italian and the far east art.
In search of the right way to carve letters, Chortkov's artists reached the highest level of stone carving that amaze us today. We understand that the best and most beautiful gravestones were commissioned by the richest the and most important Jews. The names that were engraved on the stones could be found in the list of the most important Jewish people in the community like, Arye Leib Moshe, Rabbi Yisrael (Barslar)and many more. Only the rich and honorable were able to afford such magnificent gravestones since the work involved to create such a gravestone was hard and took many months. It is important to notice that modesty was characteristic to this gravestones. Very little was written about the departed. Only his name and a few words about his personality.
The most important gravestones were those of Rabbi Hershlie and his son. According to tradition he died in his sleep (death by a kiss). On both gravestones it is carved "what a horrible place this is". Many legends were told about the Rabbi and his son. Some of them are written in Rabbi Dr. Zonenstien's book and also in the author Litvin "Jewish Souls" book that I already mentioned. Here is what Litvin wrote about the stone: "on the grave of Rabbi Herslie and his son in Chortkov stands a gravestone, that is the most beautifully decorated stone of all the Jewish gravestones in the whole world".(click here to see picture p. 43 and 44)
For two hundred years the gravestones of Rabbi Hershlie and his son were a place of pilgrimage. For those seeking salvation from our Jewish brothers, as it is told, to the local farmers.
More popular was the "Ohel"(mausoleum) of the Hassid Rabbi David Moshe the founder of the Hassidic dynasty in Chortkov. Many Hassidim travel from near and far to Chortkov to leave a "note" with their request inside the "Ohel"(mausoleum) of the Zaddik.
It was customary with the people in our town, that after a visit to their love ones grave, to submit their plea on the graves of Rabbi Hershlie and the Zaddik Rabbi David Moshe.
Another old custom connected with the ancient cemetery: has to do with strings that were used to make wicks for Yizkor candles for Yom Kippur. The family measured the length of the graves of their loved ones and also the length of the graves of the Zaddikim and interweave the strings together to make wicks for the candles.
In the ancient cemetery towered a beautiful gravestone on the grave of Rabbi
Yeshaya Meir Shapira.
Nothing was left in the ancient cemetery. The Nazis and their helpers destroyed
everything and cleared the area from all the gravestones except for a double
gravestone that for unknown reasons was left and is still standing today.
Wounded and broken in its' place. The Nazis used the gravestones to pave the
prison yard and later to repair the city streets. The work of destroying a holy
place, was done by forced labor from the Jewish ghetto.
In their belief of pure race, the Germans wished not only to destroy the Jewish people but also their past and memory. The first target of the work of destruction was the ancient cemetery. Survivors who came back to Chortkov after liberation, found instead of a cemetery an open and empty field clear of gravestones. Only two walls had survived from the Zaddik "Ohel" (mausoleum).
It is a shame that we reached the day that from the magnificent community in
Chortkov nothing survived, not even the gravestones. This Yizkor Book is a
memorial, a gravestone to the glorious past of the Jewish community in Chortkov.
[Page 166]
by Miriam Porer
Translated by Sara Mages
My Mother of blessed memory, used to tell me, when I did not put things
back in their places, or when I left my cloths on a chair, that I will
turn the house to into a poor house. I only learned what she meant after
I visited the citys poor house, for the first time in my life. I was asked
to deliver a parcel and a small pot of food to an old woman. What I saw,
grasped my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I stood in a depressing
darkened room. The small widows were covered with dust, plaster and mud,
blocking the sunlight from coming in. The walls were damp and covered with
insects blood. In the middle of the room stood a rickety table with a
broken leg. The table was supported by bricks and stones. Next to it
stood two broken chairs.
Against to the walls stood pitiful iron beds, covered with tattered blankets, that their guts fell out. At one time, those blankets were clean and in good shape. Lying or sitting on the beds were creatures who at one time were healthy, happy and active human beings. I saw sick and desperate people. Next to each bed, stood a small box, and stored in it were few personal belongings. A small cup, a small pot, a glass and a basket. The beds stood very close to each other, and the air was so stale that it was difficult for me to breath. The horrid smell of the overflowing chamber pots, that were located under the poor old peoples beds, increased the horrible stench in the room.
I remember, that I was sent to deliver a parcel and a small pot of food to a woman by the name of Zirla. She shared a room with eight or nine old women. When I entered the room, they were already fighting, yelling and shouting insults at each other. When they saw me, and the small pot of food in my hand, their questionable eyes followed me, trying to guess who would be the lucky one to receive the treasure that I was holding in my hands. When I approached Zirla, their eyes were shooting fire and hate. Is this such a small matter in your eyes? To receive a bowl of tasty soup and a piece of chicken?
The same Zirla, shared her food with her neighbors, and while she was eating she told me the tragic life stories of the women who lived in the same room with her.
The Jewish community gave this place to the old people to live in. Once a day, the old women got a cup of tea, and twice a day a glass of milk. Those who were lucky enough to have a family, were being taken care of and were not hungry. But the others, had to beg for money in the streets so they wont starve to death.
My mother, may she rests in peace, organized a group of young women who provided and served food to the old women. She enlisted me as a food carriers. Also, other women took on themselves the duty of food carriers to the old women.
After I got married and left Chortkov, my mother of blessed memory, continued with her charitable work, and by doing so, she did not only encouraged the elderly women, but also saved them from the disgrace of hunger, as simple as it sounds.
When I returned to Chortkov, Palak the pharmacist informed me that the community was planning to open an old aged home and for that purpose they bought a house on Zilona Street. He asked me to help him with the organization and the management of the old aged home. I gladly accepted his proposal because I remembered the poor house of the past years, and I saw in the plan a solution to the critical situation of the old men and women in Chortkov.
Immediately, I enlisted Mrs. Dr. Margalit, and the two of us put together a committee and organized a plan of action for the old aged home.
The beautiful house that was purchased by the community was located inside a large garden. The rooms were big and washed by sunlight. But very soon, we realized that we did not have enough room to accommodate all the needy. In time, we built additional rooms, and increased the capacity of the institution.
Mrs. Yente Karp, was one of the most dedicated administrators of the old aged home. She dedicated almost all of her free time to the institution. She helped with management duties, took care of all matters, small and big, enabling us to operate the home properly. Mrs. Yente Karp was also known for her good nature and patience towards the old people. Thanks to her, many unpleasant incidents that might have erupted between the old residents and the management, were avoided.
Activities in the old aged home were not limited to soul purpose of providing material help. In time, a library was established and proper social activities were organized.
Palak the pharmacist will be remember for his good deeds and his contribution to the success of the home. Not once, he provided financial help when the institutions budget could not cope with unexpected expenses.
After I immigrated to Israel, Mrs. Karp was still on guard at the institution,
and kept it running until the outbreak of World War II. Chortkovs magnificent
community institution, was destroyed by the Nazis during the period of
the great destruction of the European Jewry
[Page 168]
The Vishnitzer Kloyz
by Dov Shiloni
Translated by Sara Mages
I dont know what kind of atmosphere prevailed in other synagogues
in Chortkov. Maybe, those places of prayers were distinguished and stood
on high standard, but today, from a distance of many years, after we wandered
a lot, and after I learned about the big world, I look back on those
years, and I am convinced, that personal and spiritual greatness prevailed
in the Viznitz synagogue. I do not want to shut my eyes and ignore the
negative aspects, and the shadows that darkened the lights of our lives
in the synagogue. Like the arguments over the Aliyot(being called to
the reading of the Torah) on Saturdays and holidays. But, despite all those
dark shadows, a large ray of light shined from each corner of the synagogue,
and great brotherhood prevailed among the worshipers.
I remember an event from the times of World War I. Itzi Fink of blessed memory, was found guilty for possessing forged money and was sentenced to 15 years in jail with hard labor. That day, was a day of mourning among the synagogues members, and all the Jewish residents in Chortkov. After the outbreak of the 1917 revolution, Itzi was released from jail. I will never forget the joyful party that the synagogues worshipers organized to celebrate his release.
The tradition of welcoming a guest on Shabbat or a holiday, was a common practice in the Vinzizer synagogue. I remember times, when people were fighting to host a guest, when more then one came to our synagogue on Shabbat or on a holiday. There were very few poor people in our synagogue.
I remember again, that in our home, lived ate and drank, two Halutzim who were on their way to Eretz Ysrael. They lived with us, on our expense, for two years (and now they live in Israel). At that time, we did not consider it be a charitable act or an unusual thing to do, but after many years, and after we were introduced to the cruel world, and the cruelty that it inflected on our people, we appreciate, twice over, the generosity and good nature of our towns people. A special and wonderful chapter in our lives, was the reception that was given to the exiled from Sniatin who lived among us for a good number of years.
I remember the third meal parties in the Viznitz synagogue. There was an atmosphere of greatness and secret longing in those parties, in spit of the fact that the only food that was served was the tail-end of salt- herring and a piece of Challa. I am absolutely sure, that people who ate in the greatest restaurants in the world, never experienced the wonderful taste of the tail-end of a salt-herring that the Jews tasted in those parties.
I find it necessary to describe here, in a few words, some of the people who attended those parties. The Stekel brothers, especially Moshe Stekel, who was an enthusiastic Chassid, full of charm and youthfulness. There were many other individuals, but who among us is talented enough to memorialize their images? O for those who are gone and cannot be replaced!
It is worthy to mention the readers, who passed in front of the readers desk during the High Holidays. In the Viznitz synagogue, there was no need to hire cantors for the holidays and for Shabbat, because there were many cantors among the worshipers who attracted people, from far away places, with the sweetness of their prayers.
The Viznitz Chassidim excelled with their generosity and love of Israel. They had a special and unique way of praying, that proved their love of G-d and the Jewish nation.
A well known Vizhnitz Chassid was Nisan Pheriele. Sometimes, twenty poor guests ate at his table during Shabbat or a holiday. His hand was always open, and with his money he supported all the rabbis, even though, he was a Vizntiz Chassid. Rabbi Nisan was the first tourist from Chortkov who traveled to visit Eretz Ysrael. He also paid for the education of one Jew (Itzikel the Russian) and taught him Mishnayot. Also known were Yantzi Stekel and his son Shmuel who dedicated their lives to serve the Lord. Every day, summer and winter, they arrived to the synagogue at five oclock in the morning to pray and study the Torah. They were happy to perform the deeds of charity and encouraged others to do the same. Shmuel Stekel left Chortkov at the outbreak of World War I and moved to London. Even though he was not a rich Jew, he opened his hand and helped many Jews in Chortkov. He died of a heart-failure at the outbreak of World War II.
May their memory be memorialized for eternity.
[Page 169]
by Tzvi Ben-Zion
Translation by Sara Mages
The great synagogue of Chortkov, as it was structured and shaped
during our days, was established around two hundred years ago. Many wrote
about the synagogue and described its many details. The authors; K.A.
Franzoz, Litvin in his book Jewish souls, and Rabbi Dr. Zonenestien in his scientific
work about the history of Chortkov (we can read a summary of his work at
the beginning of this Yizkor Book). Additional details were listed in the
anniversary book for Rabbi Shapiras Association that was published in
New York. In it, we can find selections from the Community Registry and
also a signed copy of the contract with the Tailors Poalie Tzedeck Society
who leased the side hall (which was called by our people the Chest
Pocket) of the synagogue.
Al those articles relate to the period before the great and total renovation of 1921, that completely changed the appearance of the synagogues interior. Unfortunately, not even one picture of the synagogues interior remained. So, I am going to try my best to describe it here in words.
The entrance to the great synagogue was from the north side, from the lot that was located between the synagogue and Beit Hamidrash. First, you had to walk down to the Polish, and then, you had to turn left, and after you descended a few steps, you entered the Sanctuary. The walls and the arches that supported the ceiling were covered with pictures and sometimes with prayers. I remember the following pictures: brave as a lion, fast a deer, strong as a tiger and swift as an eagle, that covered the four corners of the Sanctuary. There were also pictures of; Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall, and Rachels Tomb. Hanging on the western wall were two framed pictures, in memory of the pogroms victims.
I remember that the following prayers were painted on the walls Avino Malceno, the counting of the Omer, Song for Shabbat and more. It was possible in the great synagogue of Chorkov, to chant some of the prayers by reading them from pictures painted on the walls.
The windows that faced the eastern side were covered with stained glass, and the pillars that supported the ceiling were covered with pictures of the Zodiac. The Bima was raised from the floor, maybe by one meter, and was surrounded by a decorated wrought iron fence. There were two gates in the fence, one the south side, and one on the north side. There was also a fence around the Holy Ark. In order to reach the ark, you had to climb a number of steps. An additional ark was located in the western wall. The Torah Scrolls, that were in need of inspection, were being kept there.
The synagogues floor was made of sand stone. The synagogue was not heated even during the cold winter months, memorial candles were not lit during the High Holidays and a Mezoza was not installed in the synagogues door frame. The womens sanctuary was located above the small side hall, and was also decorated with paintings.
The synagogues ceiling was painted in light blue and ancient brass and copper chandeliers were hung from it. Some of them were converted, and were used as electrical chandeliers. Above the readers desk stood a nine branches candelabra and in the hallway stood an ancient brass sink that served the worshipers until the outbreak of the Holocaust. The entry to the small side hall was from the right side of the corridor, and the entry to the womens section was from a special outside door.
A nice tradition excised in the great synagogue. After Shabbat eves prayers, the cantor blessed the wine in an ancient silver goblet, and every once in a while, he let the children taste the wine.
Inside a meshed box, that was hung on the western wall, there was a Matza that was changed from Passover to Passover.
Out the many traditions, associated with the great synagogue, it is worth mentioning two of them. For many generations, when a person fell ill, a female member of his family rushed to the synagogue and submitted her plea in front of the open Holy-Ark. In special cases, the congregation stopped praying, and started to read chapters from the book of Tehillim. A second tradition was the tradition of making candles in the womens sanctuary. Between New-Year and the Day of Atonement, the women gathered in the womens section to make wicks for memorial candles by interweaving cotton threads and dunking them in wax. During the weaving of the wicks, they whispered in order the names of the patriarchs, and then, they memorialized the souls of their deceased relatives. The candles that they prepared were lit on Yom Kippur eve. The leftover wax was used for the making of Habdalla candles.
The members of the congregation came from different way of lives. During week days, especially during the last generation between the two World War, the worshipers came from the working class. During Shabbat, the citys rabbi and the judge came to pray. The prayers were done in Ashkenazi version. The prayer service on Shabbat and holiday was finished earlier then all the other synagogues in towns.
Among the cantors of the last generation were: Moshe Nathan the cantor, Yhoshua the cantor, Pinchas Triener, Shomer and Monish. Well known among the readers was the crippled teacher who was a reader for more then ten years. The Gabaim did not stay long in their jobs. During the times of the Gabai Hochman the womens section was renovated.
The great synagogue also served as a meeting place for the community. There were lectures and concerts were given by visiting cantors. During the Polish rule, the synagogue served as the official prayer place. Special services were held during national holidays and were attended by representatives of the civil authorities and by high ranked military officers. The rabbi gave a sermon on the days events, Rabbi Monishes choir sang song.
During the high holidays, secular people with open mind, attended the
holidays prayer services. They were able to pray only at the great synagogue
because the Chassidic synagogues were closed for them.
[Page 171]
by Tzvi Ben-Zion
Translation by Sara Mages
Beit Hamidrash of Rabbi Hershele was a low ancient structure, and as it
was customary hundreds of years ago, it was mostly built underground, sunk
almost up to its windows.
Many legends circulated about Beit Hamidrash and its founder Rabbi Hershele. One of them is telling, that before his death, Rabbi Hershele forbad performing any repairs or improvement work on the building, and that, after an incident that had happened to a Polish man whose daughter died after he repaired a door. In addition, the lot on the north side of Beit Hamidrash, where Rabbi Hersheles house once stood, remained desolated for many generations. For that reason, the Beit Hamidrash was never renovated, and only the walls were reinforced, so they wouldnt cave in.
The width of the hall was eight meters and its length was ten. There were four windows in the eastern wall. In the entrance, there were two descents. One leading to the Polish and from there to the sanctuary. The Holy Ark was decorated with wood carvings, and above it, there were two lions holding the Tablets of the Covenant.
To reach the Bima you had to climb four steps and pass through one of
the two decorated iron gates. Hanging the wall was the Blessing of the
Congregate that included the names of all the rabbis who sat on the rabbinical
chair in our town.
Beit Hamidrash was not only used as a house for prayers, but also
for as a place to study the Torah. For hundreds of years, brilliant students
studied there, and their stories were recorded in the Community Registry.
It is told in the Registry, that Rabbi Hersheles sons remember with longing
the times they spent studying in Beit Hamidrash. The dedication to study
the Torah and the Poskim (Deciders) never stopped and continued until the
outbreak of the Holocaust.
Among the students of the last generation, were individuals and groups of dedicated youth. Ordinary homeowners and tradesmen, woke up before the crack of dawn and came to read Ein Yaaqov [1] or to recite from the Book of Tehillim (Psalms). The gate to Beit Hamidrash was open day and night, and during the winter the heating stove was working non stop. The bookcases were full to capacity with study and reading books, many of them ancient and scarce books. A large archive was located in the attic.
Beit Hamidrash also served as a place, where preachers, and lecturers came to preach the commandments of the Torah and the values of morality, mostly on Saturdays during the winter.
Thanks to Rabbi Hershele, many came to Beit Hamidrash to seek compassion
in time of trouble and distress.
Most of the worshipers, during the last generation, were the wealthy
and Community leaders. Among the worshipers there were also simple folks,
tradesmen and others.
I remember, that among the Gabaim were; Hirsh Yeger, Eliezer Brnda and
Peretz Phyrstien. The Reader was Chaim-Bar Prishlender. Serving for many
years as a caretaker was Michel the Short who always remembered the Yarziten
of all the worshipers. He loaned a Tallith and Tefillin to those who were
in need, and provided wine and cake for the Kidush.
The prayers in Beit Hamidrash were done in the Sepharadi version.
In addition, a special prayer that was written by Rabbi Hershele of blessed
memory, was recited before the blowing of the Shofar.
The two women sections also served as Rooms for teaching the children. In the back yard, on the western side, there were a few trees that shaded the yard. Those were the only trees in the neighborhood.
The open space between Beit Hamidrash and the great synagogue served as a play ground for the Jewish children. On the eve of the Ninth of Av, both children and adults came to take part in the tradition of throwing thorn-flowers and thistle on passerby.
Ein Yaaqov was a collection of legends and
homilies from the Talmud written by Rabbi Yaaqov son of Shlomo Ibn Haviv.
[Pages 171]
by Tzvi Ben-Zion
Translation by Sara Mages
The wide spread opinion among the towns elders was, that the old
shtiebel (synagogue) once stood next to the great synagogue. After the
shtiebel was destroyed, his worshipers dispersed to other synagogues in
town. For a period of time, they held prayer services in a room that was
rented from Naftali the milkman.
At the beginning of 1920, when the new building was being built with money raised from the sale of prayer places, the control of the synagogue was passed into the hands of Chortkovs Chassidim. Most of the worshipers were merchants and homeowners. Only a small number of tradesmen were included among them. The majority of worshipers were learned Torah scholars. So, it is not a surprise, that the activities of the Torah Study Society (six orders of the Talmud and Mishna) and also the Completion Ceremony (completion of the study of the Talmud) always took place at the Startin Chassidic synagogue. Starting in the 1920s, a charitable collection for the Jewish National Fund started, but under the influence of the Aguda Society in the Startin synagogue, those activities were stopped.
The synagogue excelled with the large number of worshipers who prayed daily, from sunrise to the late hours of the day. The on going prayers, that never stopped, did not bother the young men who were studying the Torah in the synagogue, and in the western hall, that was only being used for that purpose. Most of the studies took place after Maariv (evening) prayers and lasted to the late hours of the night. During winter nights, it was possible to hear secular conversations that took place next to the stove. There were many discussions and opinions about the political situation in the country and the world. This activity was called by the Jews Political wisdom.
The last generation of cantors were, Nosbaum,Ysrael-Avraham the teacher, and Yoseph Goldhaver. The last one was also the an excellent reader, who also instructed the synagogues Yeshiva students.
During the last years, before the Holocaust, the synagogue served
as a central location for the Mizlobitzs rabbi, who was the rabbi for
the extreme orthodox Jews, who supported him after he was defeated in the
elections for the citys rabbi.
The power to keep the synagogues stove burning during the winter
nights, and to wake the Yeshivas students from their sleep early every
morning, belonged to Rabbi Eliezer.
There were two entrances to the synagogue. One on the western side that
also served as an entrance to the womens section, and a second one on
the southern side. The prayer hall was spacious with large windows, allowing
plenty of light to pour in, and helping the students with their studies.
Every Saturday, a third meal took place. It was accompanied by Torah discussions
and Sabbath hymns.
[Pages 172]
by B. M. Lokar-Druk
Translation by Sara Mages
According to the order given by the Admor (our teacher and master - title
of a Chassidic rabbi) Rabbi David Mosheni Friedman of blessed memory,
the Torah Study Society, (the society of six orders of the Talmud and Mishna),
was established in 1888 in our city Chortkov.
The objective of the society was:
In order to execute the societys objectives, Rabbi Mordechai of blessed memory, received a permission from Admor of blessed memory to write new rules and regulations for the society. Each member was obliged to conduct himself according to those regulations.
Rabbi Mordechai of blessed memory, divided this sacred work among a number of people. Rabbi Eliezer the slaughterer, of blessed memory, was in charge of distributing the Babylonian Talmud. Rabbi Natan Altman (who was a teacher at Talmud Torah and was also known by the name Natan Tshornick) was in charge of distributing the Mishnayoth, sending members to pray at the home of a deceased member during the days of the Shivah, and was also in charge of dividing the Mishnayoth among the members, so they can study in memory of their deceased friend.
Rabbi Mordechai of blessed memory, kept himself active managing the society. He collected membership fees and monthly dues, bought books for the society and organized the societys yearly meal that took place, according the rules, every year on the eighth day of Chanukah.
In 1917, Rabbi Mordechai of blessed memory, brought two young men to the society, Yakov Dovovi and Avraham Klirsphald. He forgave their membership fees, under the condition, that they will help him with the management of the society. They took on themselves the job of collecting money needed for purchase the six orders and Mishnayoth, and the planning of the yearly dinner, as mentioned above.
The weight of running the society lied on the two slaughterers; Rabbi Mordechai and Rabbi Eliezer. Every once in a while, they introduced improvements to the society and enlarged its scope to include also young adults.
In 1921, the slaughterers convinced the writer of this article to take on himself the management of the society. He was accepted as a member and was appointed as a general secretary.
Rabbi Mordechai of blessed memory, insisted on one stipulation, that the writer of this article must rewrite the societys rules and give them to each member, so he will know how to behave. He also had to make sure that none of the members will deviate from the course of the society.
I took the task on myself. I managed the societys books, collected money, organized the yearly dinners on the eight day of Chanukah, in order to unite the religious Jews of Chortkov.
With G-ds help I made sure that nothing was missing. I even added wine and honey cakes to each member before the meal. Every year, Rabbi Mordechai said the Hadran (we have repeated) and all the member sang songs and danced Chassidim dances.
It was difficult to be accepted as a member to the society. Each member had to pass a difficult tests, and the slaughterers mention above, supervised the behavior of each member.
Every two months, the caretaker of the society visited each member to check how far they have studied in their chapter, to make sure that they were done by Chanukah. The inspection was strict.
The seventy members of the society came from the well to do sector of the religious Jews of Chortkov. All the activities took place in the Stertiner synagogue.
It is worth mentioning that the original bylaws started with the following
In the year
in the present of the president, the Admor Rabbi David
Mosheni Friedman may he lives long and happily, the Torah Study Society,
six orders of the Talmud and Mishna was established in Chortkov
In many occasions I started, together with Rabbi Mordechai the slaughterer,
to go over the societys regulations in order to bring them up in time.
But we were not successful because there was too much work to be done.
After the death of the Admor Rabbi David Mosheni of blessed memory,
the Admor Rabbi Ysraelni of blessed memory took on himself the position
of the honorable presidency.
Now, a few words about Rabbi Mordechai the slaughterer of blessed memory: Rabbi Mordechai the slaughterer of blessed memory was one of the first Chassidim who gave their soul for the teaching of the Torah. He was the head slaughterers in our city. The other slaughterers were: Rabbi Israel the slaughterer, Rabbi Chaim the slaughterer and Rabbi Eliezer the slaughterer.
Rabbi Mordechai was an honest man with a clear mind, rich with knowledge and action. He was an enthusiastic Chortkov Chassid. A great diligent scholar, whose mouth never stopped learning. A wonderful person who will never be forgotten.
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
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Updated 14 Nov 2020 by OR


text:
[Jim Davies] from the Association for Computing Machinery wrote us to let us know about a conference being hosted this fall, the 8th ACM conference on Creativity and Cognition. C&C 2011 has a lot to offer, providing an opportunity for artists, scientists, designers and educators to gather together and share their expertise via a series of group meetings, tutorials, and workshops.
We wanted to bring C&C 2001 to the attention of our readers as it is likely many of you had some level of interaction with your college or university's local ACM chapter in the past. [Jim] wanted to point out that though the conference is slated for the first week of November, there is a deadline of April 25th for all papers and proposals. If you are interested in submitting something to the conference, it would be wise to get started soon.
The overall theme of this year's conference is Creativity and Technology, which fits the hacking community quite well. Good luck to any of you who decide to give it a shot!


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Personal property used by businesses has been subject to taxation in Michigan. Effective for the 2014 assessment year, an exemption has been created for the personal property owned by businesses if the true cash value of the personal property owned, leased, or possessed by the business or a related party is less than $80,000 within the assessment jurisdiction. This exemption has become known informally as the "small taxpayer" exemption. The exemption is only for commercial and industrial personal property.
To claim this exemption, the business must file Form 5076, Affidavit of Owner of Eligible Personal Property Claiming Exemption from Collection of Taxes. This form must be filed with the Assessing Department by February 10, each year. Property owners who timely file this affidavit are not required to file a Personal Property Statement. It is necessary for the property owner to file Form 5076 annually with the Assessing Department no later than February 10. Taxpayers are required to maintain books and records for four years after filing an affidavit claiming the exemption; penalties apply for fraudulent exemption claims. Access personal property forms and information.


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
NCSA edges away from Google-Yahoo! study
Garbage in, garbage out
A widely discredited report that cast doubt on claims made for Yahoo!'s search engine is in even more trouble. The study appears to have been disowned by the university that published it, although a history professor originally credited as a co-author is continuing to host the material.
After Yahoo! boasted that it now used a much larger search index than Google, two students at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois conducted a study that suggested otherwise. Matthew Cheney and Mike Perry concluded that only in 3 per cent of test cases did Yahoo! return more results.
However the students' methodology came under attack almost immediately. Researchers including Seth Finkelstein and Jean Veronais drew some quite different conclusions. The NCSA researchers had used pairs of words at random picked from a word list, which skewed the results towards web pages consisting of word lists. In other words, Google was simply returning more junk than Yahoo!
(See My spam-filled search index is bigger than yours!).
Now the biohazard signs are being erected around the report, and the students have issued a qualification. Gone from the original are the University's logo, and the name of a Professor listed as a co-author alongside Cheney and Perry has disappeared.
Added is a disclaimer:
"The study was done outside the scope of any NCSA core projects. When first published online, staff at the NCSA noted several issues with the study, and some revisions have been made to the document to reflect several of these concerns."
Incredibly, the students insist they were right first time round, and have only removed one of silliest conclusions. They're re-running the data and say they expect to reach the same results they got the first time round.
The Professor of History and Sociology at the NCSA who hosted the original, Vernon Burton, continues to host the study, alongside an ever-lengthening list of qualifications.®


text:
Vulcan - Meet Your Ghost (1978)
This album has been extensively bootlegged on the Internet (run a little Google search and see), but legitimate copies rarely made it much beyond Spencer, Iowa, and there aren't many of those.
How can you tell a boot from the original, I hear you asking? After all, if nobody's ever SEEN a copy, and the catalogs don't include anything about it, what's there to look for? Well, the first thing to look for is whether or not it's sealed. Lyle couldn't afford shrinkwrapping. The second thing to look at is the label, intentionally not produced here. Lyle also couldn't afford labels. He produced his own with a typewriter and a photocopier, and meticulously "whited-out" several spots on every label, having changed his mind about some wording after photocopying them. Then he pasted them to the records. Additionally, the original label lists a slightly different track list from the cover for side two (the cover is correct, except in referring to Meet Your Ghost as "Title Track").
Meet Your Ghost covers come in several states (ALL marked "a re-issue"-Lyle got a little mixed up over what "reissue" meant): the Original, the Pasteover Version (being offered here), and a later re-issued re-issue (that one's easy; it has a professionally printed label). Legitimate "second state" Meet Your Ghosts will feature a rubber hand-stamp at the bottom of the back graphic, which says "P.O. Box 5221". Boots incorporate that address (if they use it at all) as another line of printing rather than as a rubber handstamp. The paste-over portion of the cover (visible in the photo of the back) features a photo of Vulcan which he apparently prefers to the photo originally used. It carefully obscures an earlier photo of the artist, as well as two statements: "Dedicated to Jimi Hendrix", and "Produced By L.J. Silver".
So, if no legitimate copies of this album come shrinkwrapped, how do we know that the copy being offered here is unplayed? Well, due to the hand-produced nature of the label, Lyle forgot to punch out the spindle hole on this one; it appears as photocopied circle, right where the spindle hole belongs. The lucky winner of this item, should there be one, gets to punch out that hole if they want to play the record. Nobody's done that yet.
Am I suggesting that this is investment grade material? After all, I've priced it a lot higher than most of my other records....This little baby is full of mysteries....like why does it say copyrighted 1982 on the cover, and 1985 on the label? Who is the girl on the cover? Who else played on the record? What kind of record is it, anyway (it's Hendrix-like, in a sort of Iowa way)? How many copies of the record does the guy who owned the store before me have? Who knew anybody from Iowa ever recorded any psychedelic music?
No, I really wouldn't expect someone who is just reading about this artist for the first time to be awfully interested in this item. But if you are a bootlegger, you NEED this reference copy of this record. You might need a copy of it if you are from Iowa. If you happen to know a lot about privately produced psyche rock records from the Midwest, you should probably feel comfortable with the authenticity of this item. If you are Lyle himself, I am sorry, buddy-it's time for me to cash in and I'm afraid the price has risen a little. (taken from a 2004 eBay auction)
"...a monster private psych LP from Iowa. Recorded in 1978, Vulcan is Lyle Steece, and this is his one-man-against-the-universe-rock-album. Dedicated to Jimi Hendrix, this features real primitive basement-psych guitar rock that is outrageously fucked, inspirational, distortion-overloaded and massively mindblowing. Of course, others just say it's dull and poorly played." (BUY IT @ ForcedExposure)
alt. link
Vulcan - Noname
10 comments:
- gorehound13 said...
sounds interesting enough to check out.
thanks for sharing - 23.5.07
What was this clown thinking.....?? hehehe!!
Thanks for the post anyway, but you're right it's a little shabby in parts... - 24.5.07
Tuff Stuff,worthy to listen.Thanks
Andre - 24.5.07
- FM SHADES said...
This Kills Man!!!! THANKS!
its fuzzy ill take it cool stuff,
- 25.5.07
seems interesting,i'm going for it.thanks
- 28.5.07
Are you selling these? How can I buy one?
- 1.6.07
- crotchbat said...
I'm not selling these - I just nabbed the first description from a 2004 eBay auction because it made me laugh. Don't think there's a CD reissue (at least in the States), but if you follow my "BUY IT" link at the end of the second description you can purchase an LP reissue from ForcedExposure.com (please do).
- 1.6.07
Hi, what a great album, it makes me think to the Morgen album. Lyle had some musicians or did he do everthing alone ?
thank you
didier - 22.11.07
- StevenK said...
Man, you sure know how to find the good ones! Thanks so very much for this!
Steven - 31.8.09


text:
The Coachella 2013 lineup is finally here, featuring the Stone Roses, Blur, the Postal Service and more.
Late Thursday night, organizers took to Twitter to reveal the full lineup for the 2013 edition of the fest, which features recently-reunited acts like the Stone Roses, Blur and the Postal Service, returning indie champs Phoenix, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Vampire Weekend and, uh, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
You want even more bands? Ok, how about Passion Pit, Tegan and Sara, Grizzly Bear, Franz Ferdinand, Moby, Portugal the Man and the Lumineers. Cool? Cool. All in all, there are more than 160 artists on the bill (sadly, the Ikea Monkey is not one of them), though rumors of appearances by the Rolling Stones, Daft Punk and Justin Timberlake proved to be just that, a fact that's sure to be pointed out throughout the day on blogs everywhere.
You can purchase Coachella Tickets today.
By Chris Michaels
Lets Hang, Add me to your Circles I like to give away FREE TICKETS! as much as possible.
Here is my home page:
Chris Michaels I live in Los Angeles, CA and work as an Chief Wisdom Officer
at Barry's Ticket Service www.barrystickets.com.
Barry's Ticket Service
1020 S. Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90015
(across from the inside the Luxe City Center)
Open 7 days a week, 10am – 9pm, for pickups.
You can also visit now on Google+


text:
1) This site is built for foreigners in China and all who are interested in China to have a quick knowledge about the country and Chinese culture. You will find concise summaries of different aspects of Chinese culture. The introduction will be made in comparison with western culture, which will make it easy to understand from a western culture's point of view.
2) You will find in this site information that western people are most eager to know about China such as Chinese New Year, Chinese Zodiac, how to write English names in Chinese etc.
3) You will also find guide to daily life of foreigners in China such as food, travel, places of interest etc basing upon my personal experience.
4) One distinguishing feature of this web site is that the information you find here are basing upon the original traditional Chinese culture that had not been polluted by the Communist propaganda.
I was born in China. I lived in Beijing for ten years before going abroad. I am now living in Ireland with an Irish citizenship. I love China and I love all peoples.
I know China including its brilliant past in ancient times, its sorrowful history in the twentieth century, its economic boom in the last two decades and the current problems. I also know western culture. My experiences of living and receiving education in both China and western countries have given me the motive as well as knowledge to help with this cultural exchange. I hope this web site can help both Chinese people and foreigners in China. You will be very much appreciated if you could let me know your comments on this web site.
Feb. 2008
I find your art to be unique, and I have no doubt that there are many of us who appreciate your fine efforts.
Yours Affectionately,
-- Marshall C. Suess (from United States)
I find your site neat and helpful. a couple of family members and I are getting tattoos to remind us whats important in life and what weve been through together. I got strength off your site and would like to know the symbol for family and life in kai shu. thank you!:)
-- Alyssa (from Canada)
First off I want to thank you for putting up this interesting site. I was surfing the web tonight because I'm hoping to plan a trip to China soon and found your site. My knowledge of China and it's culture is just marginal but I'm very much fascinated by it and I'm still learning.
I've listened to the traditional music you have here and love all of it, but there's one piece I absolutely adore and that's PuDu, the Universal Salvation piece.
-- Karen (from Italy)
Hi, I just got a email from this webside, and I love it. my great grandparent was from China; they later moved to VN.
Thank so much for this webside.
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I am from India and from my childhood, i have always been fantasize about chinese culture , martial arts, its food, music, people and legends and history. So, to a person like me, this website is a treasure. i have never been to china but once in a lifetime, i will definitely make a visit there...
Keep up the good work
warm regards
-- Tarun Gupta
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